


The Hamilton Spouse Club

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [66]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College, F/M, Family, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Israel, M/M, Romance, Travel, Travels, study abroad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-12-30 08:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12105111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: Sometimes you don't always stop to think about what it's like being with a Hamilton, but there are a few people who do and occasionally they need to air their grievances. Which resulted in the founding of the Hamilton Spouse Club.





	1. Chapter 1

July 4, 2020

 

None of the times she had visited with the Hamiltons had prepared Theo for this. Not even her and Philip's wedding could have prepared her for the sheer madness of a true Hamilton Family Get Together--capitalization absolutely necessary.

It was the fourth of July and everyone was together, and they had all gone down to Mount Vernon for the holiday. Theo didn't think she would ever get over the fact that she was at former President Washington's private residence. 

 

Sure, during her father's time as senator of course she'd been to the White House but this was so different. She wasn't sure she'd ever been in a home that large before. Yet despite the size of the house, there seemed to be Hamiltons everywhere.

The party was now in full swing and Theo just wanted a break, so she slunk away hoping no one else had seen her. She found herself on a small balcony overlooking the backyard, where the family was starting to gather to prepare for the fireworks. She also found herself not alone. Eli was leaning against the railing looking out at the grounds of Mount Vernon.

"You need a break too?" Eli asked.

"Overwhelming is an understatement," replied Theo, joining Eli against the balcony railing. 

Eli chuckled, "No kidding."

"I love Philip, really I do and it's not like I'm not used to the Hamiltons," Theo sighed, "but it feels different now that I'm married to one."

Eli hummed in acknowledgement, his gaze returning out to the surrounding trees. They stood together in comfortable silence, side by side. 

"Hey Theo, can I tell you something?" Eli said finally.   
M  
"Of course. Anything."

"You can't tell anyone," insisted Eli, "Not even Philip. Understand?"

"I promise," Theo told him. She was starting to get a little worried. 

Eli took a deep breath and turned to face Theo completely. 

"AJ and I are married," he said, "We did it at the courthouse with my grandmother as our witness."

 

Theo's eyes went wide, "Oh my god... Oh my god..."

"I know," Eli said, a flush rising in his cheeks. 

"When did this happen?" Theo asked. 

"This past December," replied Eli, "Remember that vacation AJ and I went on during Chanukah? That was our honeymoon."

Theo shook her head, "Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Well, we didn't want to steal your thunder," Eli teased, "AJ just didn't want his dad to make a huge deal out of it. You know, first child getting married means a huge party and lots of people. AJ's not big on being the center of attention like that."

 

Theo giggled, "Well I applaud you on keeping it under wraps for this long."

Eli beamed, "We'll see how long that lasts."

 

"We should start a club!" Theo said, "A club for Hamilton spouses. We can get together every so often to vent about them."

"I like it," Eli agreed with a grin, "We should have a code word too, so if there's something we really need to talk about we can text or call each other with the code word and go meet at a previously decided location."

"The Hamilton Spouse club!" Theo decided, "Now granted it's small for now but it certainly won't stay that way," she smiled.

"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" Eli grinned.

"You saw them too?" Theo asked.

"It was completely obvious to everyone except them," replied Eli, "The way he was looking at Angie all night."

"So cute," Theo smiled, "definitely a nice addition."

"Hey wanna maybe sneak into the kitchen and we can toast the founding of our new club? Martha showed me where she keeps the good stuff."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Theo. 

She hooked her arm through Eli's as the two of them returned into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

March 27, 2021

 

The last notes of AJ and Eli's rousing, slightly drunk, rendition of the final song faded into laughter from all of those around the table. Even Angie and Theo, both heavily pregnant and therefore not partaking of the wine, couldn't help but join in. 

"I think that is one of the best evenings I've ever had," Philip said when their laughter had faded. 

"I told you that Passover Seder was awesome," AJ shot back. 

"And you were right," replied Philip with a nod.

"We'll have to do this again," Angie smiled.

"It does happen annually," Eli laughed, "so that shouldn't be a problem."

"You've got a deal," agreed Angie, "And if you all will excuse me, this little bundle of joy is kicking my bladder like a soccer ball."

"And I believe that you and I have clean up duty, dear brother," AJ said. 

This left Richie, Eli and Theo sitting alone.

"You know Theo there is something we ought to do," Eli smiled.

Theo at first looked confused, but then a knowing smile spread across her face, "You know what... You're right."

"What's going on here?" Richie furrowed his brow.

"Richard Price," Eli began, "I think it's time we induct you into the Hamilspouse club."

"The Hamilspouse club?" Richie's brow raised, "What's that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Theo replied.

"Okay," Richie nodded, "there is just one problem with that, Angie and I aren't married."

"Semantics," Eli scoffed, flapping his hand, "You knocked her up and that's close enough."

Richie's face grew red, "It sounds really awful when you say it like that."

"Don't mind him, he's a little drunk," Theo laughed. 

"One of the best parts of Pesach," agreed Eli with a nod.

Richie sighed, "Okay so tell me more about this...club...do you actually do things or is it just in name only?"

"You haven't experienced a full on Hamilton get together yet, have you?" Theo asked sympathetically, "Just wait. You'll understand why we need this club."

"Ummm..." Richie pressed his lips into a thin line, "okay?"

"Don't worry," Eli said, patting Richie's shoulder in a friendly manner, "it's nothing bad. Sometimes it can be good to get away from the Ham Fam for awhile. You ever feel like you need to vent about them or anything, call or text either of us and say that you need to go buy some orange juice and we'll meet up with you."

 

"Orange juice?" Richie raised his brow.

 

"It was going to be something else, but the fireworks started as we were talking about it and I misheard Eli saying orange juice," Theo explained with a grin, "So we just decided to stick with it."

"Alright well personally I think a club like this should have a handshake," Richie smiled.

 

"I like the way you think," Eli complemented.


	3. Chapter 3

October 2020

His year abroad teaching English as a second language in Japan was one of the best years Jamie had ever had and not just because of the work experience.

Ever since his first encounter with Marisol a few months into the program, and since their first date it was easy to say that occasionally Jamie felt a little...distracted.

He really thought he was hiding it from his students, but he had underestimated the observational skill of teenaged girls. 

"Your students ship us," Marisol told him one evening when they were out on their third official date.

"Ship us?" Jamie raised his brow.

"Mhmm," Marisol replied taking a sip of her drink.

"I don't know what that means," Jamie told her as he carefully used his chopsticks to dip a gyoza in soy sauce. 

They were at an izakaya, the Japanese version of a bar or pub, for a drink and a snack before going to a movie. 

"Do you have no concept of popular culture?" laughed Marisol, "They think we make a cute couple."

At that Jamie's gyoza slipped into the soy sauce splattering on the table and his face grew red.

"I for one agree with them," Marisol added trying to suppress a smirk and Jamie's obvious distress, "don't you?"

"Um, well," Jamie stuttered, "A-are we? A couple? Because we've been dating, but there's a difference between dating a being a couple, you know?"

Marisol shrugged, "Well if you would like it, I think being a couple sounds nice."

"Yeah," Jamie agreed, then when he realized that he had spoken too quickly he blushed, "I mean, sure. I'd...I'd like that."

"Good," Marisol smiled, "so we're a couple then."

\----------

May 2021

As their year of teaching reached its final weeks, Jamie continued to push away thoughts of what would happen between him and Marisol when their time in Japan ran out. He would be going back to New York to start his Masters degree and Marisol would probably return to her family in Puerto Rico.

He'd been thinking for weeks on how he was going to bring it up to her. It was times like these that he wished there wasn't such a huge time difference between him and his siblings. Although emailing them was all well and good, nothing could compare to talking face to face. He could really use some advice right about now.

Especially AJ, since during his early years with Eli they'd been living a distance away from each other.

"Jamie!"

Jamie looked up to see Marisol waving, her short curls bouncing as she did so. He couldn't help but grin as he waved back, her enthusiasm and sheer joy were infectious.

"You weren't really going to eat lunch by yourself?" Marisol asked coming closer.

"And ruin our tradition?" Jamie scoffed, "Yeah, right. As if I would."

"Good," Marisol smiled, "let's go then."

Jamie took Marisol's hand and happily followed her. There was a particular sushi place near the school that they often went to during the week and that was where they were headed at this moment. As they neared the restaurant, Jamie decided that he would just bite the bullet and bring up the subject of their future.

"So I'm going to go back to New York soon," Jamie began, "gonna do my Masters and all that-"

"Me too," Marisol replied.

"In Puerto Rico?" Jamie raised his brow.

"No," Marisol laughed, "in New York.”

Jamie gaped, "Wait, what?"

"I'm moving to New York City," Marisol clarified, "to continue my education."

"I..." Jamie was at a loss.

"I thought you would be happy?" Marisol asked.

"Uhhh.... I am!" Jamie nodded.

"Then what's the issue?" prodded Marisol. 

"I'm just surprised, that's all," said Jamie, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Marisol shrugged, "Well it's not like I wasn't ever going to tell you."

"I've been going out of my mind trying to figure out what kind of future we'd have together with you in Puerto Rico and me in New York," Jamie admitted. 

"Aw," Marisol cooed, leaning over to kiss his cheek sweetly, "you're adorable. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have been willing to start this relationship if I didn't know that we'd be living in the same city after this year."

Jamie smiled, "So have you thought about where you're going to live?"

"Nope," Marisol laughed, "To be perfectly honest, I haven't really thought past having enough for tuition."

Jamie hesitated for a moment before saying tentatively, "You could stay with me. I mean, I planned to look at apartments this summer and if you want I can look at two bedroom places."

 

Marisol paused to think, "I suppose that would be alright," she nodded.

"Besides that means you'll automatically get free meals at my parents," Jamie added.

Marisol laughed. 

"Based on what you've told me about your family, that's quite a promise," she said. 

Jamie smiled, "They'll behave, I'll make sure of it."

 

\----------

July 2021

Jamie had a month or so until Marisol moved to the city and he had yet to find an apartment that he found suitable for them.

Currently he was being accompanied by his older brother Philip to assist him with the task.

"You know there are some creature comforts you'll need to give up in an apartment," Philip sighed as they walked up the stairs.

"I know Pip," Jamie rolled his eyes.

"We've seen a million apartments this morning alone," Philip continued, "I insist that we take a break after this one otherwise you'll have a fussy baby on your hands."

As if reacting to that statement, Tyler kicked his pudgy legs, his head lolling against Philip's chest as he looked around. 

Jamie couldn't help but smile at his nephew, "You know he is quite cute."

"Thanks," Philip laughed, "Theo and I planned it that way."

"He's been so well behaved these past few days, I can't imagine him being fussy," Jamie said, reaching over to tickle Tyler lightly on the side of his neck, "Isn't that right, my little angel?"

Tyler giggled and waved his arms, his hands curling into little fists.

"Yeah well don't be fooled," Philip laughed, "you're not the one who has to be up at 3am if he cries."

Jamie grinned and shook his head before leading the way into the apartment they were viewing. Philip stayed in the main area mostly, watching as Jamie inspected various aspects of the apartment.

"Not bad," Jamie muttered looking out the window.

Tyler started squirming so Philip bounced him lightly. He really wanted to talk to Jamie about this whole thing. 

"Jamie, I'm concerned," Philip said.

"Concerned?" Jamie raised his brow, "About what?"

Philip chose his words carefully, "I'm concerned about you living with Marisol. I am sure that she's a lovely girl and that you like each other very much, but it might not be the best idea."

"Why not?" Jamie asked with a frown, "I mean, she is my girlfriend."

"And that's exactly why," Philip pointed out, "There's a difference between moving in with someone that you're very serious about and being roommates with someone that you're dating."

"You just don't get it," Jamie sighed.

"What if things go wrong?" Philip asked seriously, "What if, and I'm not saying that you definitely will, but what if you break up? Living with someone is difficult, whether it's someone you've just met or a close friend or someone you love. Do you think it was easy for Theo and me just because we love each other?"

"Kind of," Jamie admitted. 

"It wasn't," said Philip, "It was hard and sometimes it still is."

Jamie sighed.

"I'd also like to add just because AJ, Angie and I are all living with our respective partners... No need for you to feel like you need to rush in and play catch up," Philip added.

"I'm not," insisted Jamie, "She's moving to the city and hadn't thought about where to stay. I could do with a roommate too. It just makes sense to find a place together."

"I don't doubt your logic," Philip told him, "I just think that you need to be wary. If it seems like there's going to be an issue then you need to decided whether your relationship is serious enough to work through the problems of living together or if it would be best to let the relationship go in favor of a comfortable living situation."

 

Jamie sighed knowing his older brother meant well but couldn't help but think he was wrong.

"I'm not trying to talk you out of it," Philip sighed, which was only really a half truth, but he didn't want to push his brother away, "I just want you to keep it in your mind. And of course you can always come and talk to me. I'm a stay at home dad, I am literally always in our apartment. Plus, I'm sure that Tyler would love to see a different face every once in awhile."

Jamie smiled, "Okay."

Philip grinned, "So what do you think about this place?"

"Hell no," Jamie replied, “did you see the size of that cockroach in the bathroom?"

\----------

Marisol had only been in the city for a few days, but she had already seen a large chunk of the best sights thanks to Jamie, who was a great tour guide if he did say so himself.

"So you say this is best pizza in town?" Marisol asked as she copied the way Jamie folded his pizza in half.

"Without a doubt," Jamie replied, "Just don't let them hear you saying that over in The Bronx, though."

Marisol laughed, "I'll keep that in mind. This has really been a lovely morning, Jamie. The Statue of Liberty is so much larger up close."

Jamie grinned taking a bite, "Some view isn't it?"

Marisol hummed in agreement, a hum which turned into a pleased groan as she bit into the pizza.

"Told you it was good pizza," Jamie laughed.

"You may make a New Yorker out of me yet James Alexander Hamilton," Marisol grinned.

"Challenge accepted," Jamie teased. 

Marisol shook her head fondly, "Dork. But seriously, thank you for this."

She reached out to place her hand over Jamie's where it rested on the table. Jamie felt his face grow hot as he blushed. 

"Of course," he replied, flustered, "my pleasure."

They sat there for a long moment, her hand on top of his. 

 

Jamie swallowed, not sure what else he should be doing, "So anything else you would like to see today?" he managed to squeak out.

"How about a museum?" Marisol suggested, "My sister made me promise to go to the Met."

"You could spend days at the Met," Jamie told her, "but we could get started this afternoon if you want."

They finished up their pizza and headed to the nearest subway. It wasn't until they had to let go to get through the turnstiles that Jamie realized they had been holding hands the whole time.

\----------

December 2022

Jamie was nervous and had been for nearly the entirety of their second flight. The first one from Newark down to Tallahassee had been fine, but now that they had crossed out of the contiguous states and were quickly approaching San Juan he was practically shaking. 

He felt Marisol reach over and lace her fingers between his and give him a gentle squeeze, "You'll be fine," she whispered.

"I know that," Jamie sighed, "it's just kind of a big deal, you know, meeting your parents. I've never dated someone for long enough to justify meeting their parents."

"I've met your parents," Marisol laughed.

"I know," Jamie ran his free hand through his hair, "but this just feels different I guess? Like you meeting my parents was just a side effect of us living together and my parents living in the city."

"They'll love you," promised Marisol, "How could they not?"

Jamie quirked a small smile in response and Marisol rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hand more firmly around his.

Jamie's nerves had settled by the time the plane touched down and they waited for the doors to open so that they could deplane and collect their baggage.

Marisol's sister had insisted on picking them up from the airport and so they made their way to the pick up area. Even if the two young women hadn't practically ran into each other's arms, Jamie would have recognized Marisol's sister; they almost looked similar enough to be twins.

When they broke apart she immediatly turned to Jamie, "You must be the Jamie that Mari has been going on about non stop!"

"Ana Sofia!" Marisol gasped.

"You can call me Sofie," she smiled ignoring her sister, "no need for all this full name nonsense."

"It's lovely to meet you," Jamie replied, holding out his hand for her to shake. 

"None of that," Sofie insisted, pulling Jamie into a hug as well. 

 

Jamie laughed, "You might have just as bone crushing hugs as my sister."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sofie smiled, "now come on, Mamí and Papí are expecting you and would don't want to be late."

 

And just like that, Jamie was nervous again. He let the sisters' chatter fade into background noise as they walked to Sofie's car and began on their way to their parents home. It was chilly out, but the sun was shining and Jamie stared distantly out the window as the mix of English and Spanish washed over him. 

 

They passed through a hilly region and the sun starting to paint the sky in a wide array of colors by the time they pulled up at the house.

The house was two stories with a large balcony and as they got out of the car they were greeted by a woman Jamie could only assume was Marisol's mother.

 

"Darling girl!" she greeted in Spanish, "Come here and let me look at you. New York agrees with you, I think."

"Don't be rude, Mamí," Sofie tsked, "It's not nice to talk about someone behind their back."

"It would certainly take some doing to really talk behind my back," Jamie interjected, also in Spanish, "considering how many languages I know."

Marisol began to laugh while Sofie looked at him in shock, "You mean you... Why didn't you?"

"I could name them off for you," Jamie smirked, "but we might be here for awhile."

"You're a jerk," Sofie pouted at her sister.

Marisol just shrugged and grinned before beckoning to Jamie with one hand. 

Jamie made his way from up the stairs of the front porch to where Marisol and her mother were standing. 

"Mamí, this is Jamie," she introduced, "Jamie, this is my mom Beatriz."

"Nice to meet you Señora Bonilla," Jamie held out his hand.

"I'll have none of that," Beatriz bypassed his hand and went straight for a hug.

"I see where Sofie gets it from," chuckled Jamie as he returned the hug.

Beatriz smiled and squeezed Jamie's shoulder, "Come in, come in we'll put your stuff away and have dinner."

As soon as they stepped inside, Jamie's nose was filled with the most wonderful smell of chicken and spices, a smell that reminded him of the few dishes that his father could reliably cook.

It was rare when his father cooked, but whenver he did it was usually for something special.

"Is that Asopao?" Jamie asked.

"You know it?" Marisol asked.

"My father spent his childhood on St. Croix," Jamie explained, "asopao was his favorite dish. He told me that his mother used to make it every year for his birthday and any other celebrations. It's one of the few things he can actually cook," Jamie chuckled. Alex had only recently started telling Jamie stories from his youth, same as he had done with Philip, Angie, and AJ when they had been Jamie's age.

Marisol smiled, "I didn't know Mr. Hamilton could cook."

"He really can't," Jamie smirked, "his mac and cheese is deadly and frankly I surprised I survived it, but his asopao is pretty amazing."

"You hear that Mamí, you've got competition," Marisol turned to her mother.

"Ha," Beatriz huffed, but she didn't make any further response.

\----------

"I wish you didn't have to go," Marisol pouted lacing their fingers together, "why can't you spend Christmas with us?"

Jamie let out a laugh, "My parents would kill me if I didn't come home for Christmas. It's kind of a thing in my family. Even Philip still comes home every year."

"But you were in Japan last year," Marisol reminded him.

"All the more reason I need to go back this year," Jamie sighed.

"I'll miss you," Marisol told him. 

"It's only for a week," said Jamie, taking her hands in his, "then we'll both be back in our apartment."

As Marisol leaned forward to kiss him, Jamie was suddenly acutely aware of their surroundings. Sofie was waiting for him in the car to take him to the airport and had a perfect view of them while Marisol's parent were undoubtedly watching from the window. So if his kiss wasn't as enthusiastic as it might have normally been, who could blame him?

Still he made no attempt to break them apart, he simply blushed when Marisol stepped away.

"Only a week," Jamie lowered his voice, "and I can kiss you a lot better then that."

Marisol giggled, "If you break that promise, I'll hold it against you."

"You can hold a lot of things against me," Jamie said with a wink, "I won't complain."

Marisol rolled her eyes as she blushed, "Such a charmer."

"I only had the best teachers," Jamie smirked.

The honk of the car horn reminded Jamie that he really needed to get going if he didn't want to miss his flight. It was very tempting to stay, but he hadn't been kidding about his parents' wrath if he missed two Christmases in a row. Especially his mother, Eliza could be scary sometimes.

This was not a risk Jamie was willing to take, so giving Marisol a quick kiss to her cheek he grabbed his bag and went to the car.

\----------

December 2024

The meeting between Jamie's parents and Marisol's parents could not have gone better. Which was a good thing, considering that the two of them had been together for just over four years.

Alex and Eliza had enthusiastically welcomed the Bonillas into their home, and just to show how happy he was to have them Alex had taken it upon himself to pull out all of his mother's recipes. To Jamie it was funny, he'd never seen his father so fully embracing the Caribbean side of his culture.

He noticed that his mother seemed equally as amused and Jamie found himself exchanging glances and grins with her throughout the night. And he could tell that she was thrilled that she had not had to cook a meal... Well the whole meal by herself.

Overall the evening was a success and by the time the two families said goodbye both sets of parent were on great terms. 

"You go on and get your parents back to their hotel," Jamie said, helping Marisol into her coat, "I have to talk to my parents about something. I'll see you back at home, okay?"

"Sure thing," replied Marisol, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek, "Love you."

"Love you too," said Jamie, his heart still warming the way it had the first time they had exchanged those words.

Once Marisol and her parents had been seen out, Jamie went to the kitchen to help Eliza with the dishes while Alex helped the youngest kids get ready for bed. As soon as that task was done, Alex joined them in the kitchen and set about making some tea for Eliza and Jamie as well as a cup of coffee for himself.

"Thanks for helping out sweetie," Eliza kissed Jamie's cheek.

"No problem mom," Jamie smiled.

"Beatriz and Hector are great," Alex enthused as he put up water to boil, "It's so nice to have someone to talk to about Puerto Rico and life in the Caribbean."

"I'm glad you like them," Jamie said honestly, "because you'll probably be seeing a lot more of them, so it would be kind of awkward if you didn't."

"Oh, are they moving to the City?" Eliza asked curiously. 

"No," Jamie said. He hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath, "I'm going to ask Marisol to marry me. Well, I'm going to ask Hector for his blessing first, but honestly," he let out a light laugh, "I would probably still ask her even if he said no. I can't see myself living without her."

Eliza reached out and gently took Jamie's hand, "That's a big step."

"I know," Jamie nodded, "but I know it's what I want."

"Of course Hector will give his blessing," Alex added, clapping a hand on Jamie's shoulder, "Who wouldn't want you to marry their daughter?"

"You might be a little biased," chuckled Jamie. 

"Only because I'm right," Alex grinned.

"Like you'd be so thrilled when whoever Lizzie's dating does the same thing," Jamie snickered.

"Lizzie's to young to be dating," Alex replied stiffly.

"Dad," Jamie laughed, "she's almost fourteen."

"Exactly, too young to be dating anyone.”

Jamie would never say so, but he knew for a fact that his father was wrong. It was simply because his youngest sister had confided into Liam who'd "accidentally" let it slip that she had a crush on a guy in her class.

"Now you, on the other hand," Alex continued, ruffling Jamie's hair fondly, "Married!"

 

"Oh come on I'm not the first," Jamie began to blush.

"But it's the first for you," Alex insisted, "and that's special."

"The first?" Jamie raised his brow, "I don't exactly plan on getting married more than once."

"The first big milestone," Alex clarified, shaking his head, "Next thing you know there'll be kids crawling all over you."

Jamie's eyes widened.

"I mean if your siblings are anything to go by-"

"Dad," Jamie interrupted, "stop right there."

"Honestly, Alexander," Eliza admonished, smacking him on the arm.

"I'm just being honest," Alex shrugged, "it's what happens."

"That doesn't mean you have to scare the boy," said Eliza, "Don't listen to your father, Jamie. You can have as many or as few children as you want in whatever time frame you're most comfortable."

"Thanks mom," Jamie smiled.

 

\----------

December 28, 2024

Marisol had taken her mother to a girl's night out, so Jamie had decided to take advantage of that fact to talk to her father one on one.

Jamie nervously cracked his knuckles, he'd offered to take Hector out to dinner near the hotel the Bonilla's were staying at. Although he did have ulterior motives other than pure goodwill.

"Ah, Jamie," Hector greeted as he stepped out of the hotel at the time they had agreed to meet. 

"Mr Bonilla," replied Jamie, "the restaurant is this way."

Despite the fact that Marisol's parents had insisted that Jamie call them by their first names, he still couldn't seem to do it.

Hector smiled, "How many times do I have to tell you that you can call me Hector?"

"At least another million times," Jamie replied.

Hector let out a bark of laughter and clapped Jamie on the back. The two of them made their way to the restaurant and were soon seated at a table. Their talk was limited to the weather and sightseeing in New York up until the waiter came to take their orders.

Several times throughout the meal, Jamie attempted to have the conversation he really wanted to have, but the words wouldn't come to him. Finally, when they were waiting for their check Hector put Jamie out of his misery. 

"You have something to tell me," Hector said, his tone matter of fact, "Or ask me. I can see it in your eyes."

"Is it that obvious?" Jamie practically groaned.

"It is," Hector nodded.

"Okay," Jamie sighed, "well it's about Marisol."

Something sparked in Hector's eyes when his daughter was mentioned and Jamie chose his next words carefully. 

"As you know, we've been together for quite some time now," Jamie said, "I love her very much and I know that she feels the same. I want to ask her to marry me. I know it's a bit old fashioned, but I want to get your permission and your blessing before I do so."

The silence on Hector's part made a Jamie shift uncomfortably as well as the stony look that crossed his face.

Jamie swallowed nervously, his heart pounding. Hector stayed quiet for a long moment, long enough that Jamie thought that he might pass out. As suddenly as the stony expression had settled on Hector's face, it lifted and he laughed heartily. 

"Of course you have my blessing!"

Jamie hadn't realized that he was holding his breath until it expelled out of him in a loud puff of air.

"You must learn to not take me so seriously," Hector squeezed Jamie's shoulder.

"You scared me," Jamie admitted, his voice shaky.

"That was the point," Hector let out a laugh, "as if I wouldn't allow my Mari to marry you."

"I'm glad," said Jamie with a light laugh. It was finally sinking in that Hector had agreed and Jamie could feel his heart swelling. 

\----------

January 2025

The party was in full swing, the entirety of the Hamilton clan squeezed into Jamie and Marisol's apartment. 

 

"Congratulations on the happy couple," Alex beamed at his son Jamie, "I know you two will be very happy together."

 

Jamie grinned, his cheeks flushed with both happiness and the champagne that was flowing freely. He reached for Marisol's hand, her ring glinting in the light as he did so. It was crazy just how nervous he'd been to propose to her on New Year's Eve, but now that he had his happiness had barely subsided.

Marisol squeezed his hand and kissed Jamie's cheek affectionately.

"I'm so happy to be a part of your family," Marisol whispered.

"Hopefully you'll still feel that way in a couple years," joked Jamie.

"I'm survived my fair share of Hamilton get togethers," replied Marisol with a cheeky smile, "I can handle it."

"I'm glad," Jamie replied.

The party went on for awhile and Marisol had stepped away for just a moment by going into the kitchen.

Almost as soon as she had walked into the room, Marisol found herself surrounded by Theo, Eli, and Richie.

Marisol looked around at the group, "Is this an intervention?" she laughed.

"More like an invitation," corrected Theo.

"An invitation?" Marisol folded her arms across her chest, "to what?"

"The Hamilspouse club," Eli supplied.

"The Hamilspouse club?" Marisol furrowed her brow, "Jamie and I are only engaged." 

"The rules are kinda lax," Richie shrugged.

"And what's the point of it?" Marisol asked. 

"Complaining," Richie replied bluntly. 

"Lovingly," added Eli.

Marisol sighed, "Okay, I'm in."

"But," she added, "only if I can supply the alcohol."

"As if any of us would say no to that," scoffed Theo.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4: June 2023

Jack couldn't believe that he was actually here at a real archaeological dig half way across the world from home. He could barely believe that his parents had agreed to send him to Israel to participate in the dig. Sure, biblical archaeology wasn't exactly his thing, but it was a real dig and that was what mattered. This particular dig had a month-long season every summer, led by local professional archaeologists with the assistance of several PhD candidates as well as swarms of students who were either still doing their degree or, like Jack, had just finished their undergraduate and wanted to pad their resume before heading off to a Masters program. 

They all stayed at a kibbutz, a local settlement, that was only a short bus ride away from the dig and Jack was now patiently waiting in line to get his key to the room that we would be sharing with five other students. 

 

"Hamilton, John."

Jack sighed, it always weirded him out when he was called John. Although the same could perhaps be said about any of his siblings in being called by their full name. He grabbed the envelope containing some papers and a key.

 

When he got to the room indicated on the envelope, Jack let himself inside and found that he was the first to arrive. There was a small kitchenette connected to an open area with three cots. Further exploration uncovered a back room with three more cots in addition to a small bathroom. Correction, a room with the shower and sink beside a detached toilet room. 

"Logic, go home. You're drunk," Jack chuckled to himself, shaking his head. 

He staked out a cot in the area by the kitchenette because it was close to an outlet and placed his suitcase on top of it.

He began to unpack his clothing (no sense living out of a suitcase for a month) and began looting around for his outlet adapter.

Just as Jack was sliding his empty suitcase under the bed, the door opened and two guys walked in. It only took a single glance to see that they were twins. 

"Hello hello," one said with a thick Australian accent, "name's Joshua and man here with the ugly mug is Nate."

"Hi, I'm Jack," Jack approached them and went to shake their hands.

"American?" asked Nate, plopping his bag on one of the other cots. 

"Yup," Jack agreed, "There's a back room too, by the way."

"Dibs!" Joshua called, striding back there.

"And he will never be seen again," Nate sighed.

Jack chuckled and sat on his bed, leaning back against the wall as he idly watched Nate unpack.

Jack decided to flop back onto the bad, "Three down, two to go."

"Unless we're lucky," Nate offered, "Not everybody comes for all four weeks of the dig. Maybe we'll just have newbies next week."

"Are you here the whole one too?" Jack asked. 

"It's our third season," Nate told him proudly.

"Nice," Jack smiled.

"So your first dig?" Nate asked.

Jack nodded his head, "It took a lot of work trying to convince my parents to let me come."

"Ours couldn't wait to send us away," grinned Nate. 

"You would think that with seven kids mine would feel the same way," Jack laughed, "although my mom was way less concerned than my dad was."

Nate let out a low whistle, "Seven? My parents could barely handle me and Joshie when were little. Can't imagine seven."

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "It's not really that bad, and we're never all in the house at the same time anymore.”

 

"Well, in any case I bet it's still nice to be away from all that for a bit," said Nate, "Some good, hard work to keep you busy."

"Definitely," Jack grinned, "kinda living out a childhood dream of mine."

"Let me guess," Nate began to snicker, "Indiana Jones?"

Slightly embarrassed, Jack laughed, "How'd you guess? When I was in elementary school, I even had my friends call me Indiana Jack. Of course, I did eventually learn that what he does is more treasure hunting than actual archaeology, so I guess now all I can aspire to is that I look as good as Harrison Ford when I'm his age."

"Not a bad goal," agreed Nate. 

"Nope," Jack laughed, he then glanced at his watch, "think it's almost time for dinner."

"Indeed," said Nate, glancing at his own watch, "Guess we lucked out in the roommate game this week. Oi, Joshie!"

Josh emerged from the back room almost as soon as Nate had finished shouting his name. 

"I've got a watch too, ya know," he told Nate, "No need to shout."

"Just making sure you're still alive," Nate teased, "come on."

 

\----------

Jack was really glad that he shared Philip's trait of being an early riser. It made getting up at 5:30am after a late night just that much easier. With the midday heat in Israel being what it was, the day's digging had to start fairly early if they had any hope to get things done before the heat of the day. 

After a cup of instant coffee and some peanut butter crackers, they were off to the bus that would take them up to the site itself. Jack had discovered that he was assigned to the same area as Nate and Joshua, so he unashamedly followed their lead.

 

Although he was nearly knocked over by a girl with deep red hair.

"Sorry," she said over her shoulder in a lilting accent. She was gone before he could say anything I'm response.

But there was work to be done, Jack threw himself into it cheerfully.

"Mind if I work here with you?"

Jack saw it was the girl from earlier, "Uhhh sure?"

Their area of the dig site was excavating the city wall. In previous seasons, a large portion of the wall, outer and inner with some attached chambers, had already been excavated and Joshua was currently deep in a pit trying to find the bottom of the wall so that they could measure its height. Jack had been set to work in a marked off square a short ways away in an attempt to find where the wall extended. Nate had started the morning with Jack and the two of them had dug a square about six feet by six feet to the depth of two inches. Jack's task was to continue on, making sure to keep the depth level and the side walls of the square straight while Nate went to help his twin haul out buckets of dirt from his pit. 

"Cool," the girl chirped, grabbing the pick axe that Jack had left there when he went to toss some buckets of dirt, "Watch out!"

Jack watch with awe as she swung the pickaxe strongly and steadily to loosen up the next layer of dirt. He had never found muscles so attractive as he did right now. Her strength was mesmerizing.

"So if we're gonna work together do so get to know your name?" Jack asked.

"Inara," the girl replied, slightly breathless from exertion. She rested the head of the pickaxe on the loosened dirt and leaned against the handle, "Originally from Turkey, but been living in Israel since I was nine. You?"

"Um," he blinked at her, "Jack. I've lived in the United States my whole life."

"Alright," Inara nodded, "well come on, we haven't got all day and that sun is only getting hotter."

By the time they broke for the day, Jack and Inara had made quite a bit of progress. The PhD candidate who was supervising the work in their area had even given them a compliment. 

"You're still about a yard away from where we've seen the top of the wall," he told them as he made note of the new elevation of their square, "When you get close to there, you'll had to start using hand tools. We don't want to damage the wall."

"The rock wall," Inara commented as they collected their belongings, "We're digging through dirt and rocks to find more, different rocks"

"Well, that is archaeology," Jack shrugged.

 

"So true," Inara laughed. 

Jack got separated from her as they were loading equipment and artifacts into the bus. He was prevented from finding her again when he was flanked by Joshua and Nate. 

"Couldn't help but notice that you have a very attractive digging partner," Nate grinned.

"I guess," Jack mumbled, his cheeks flushing which caused the twins to laugh. 

"Beware the summer romance," Joshua advised sagely, "Learn from my mistakes."

 

"Point taken," Jack nodded, "I've heard many a tale of the their perils."

The three of them then hopped onto the bus and as they did so he walked past Inara sitting in one of the window seats alone.

"Although, maybe I should learn from my own mistakes," Jack said, shooting the twins a wink as he stopped by Inara, "Anybody sitting here?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "Be my guest."

"Cool," Jack gripped the on the back of the seat in front of him and took the seat.

 

"So what made you decide to come all the way over here to dig?" Inara asked as the bus shuddered into motion. 

"Well I live in New York City," Jack said, "and there's not really any archaeology there. So I figured that if I was going to have to travel to go on a dig then I might as well go all out."

"Nice," Inara smiled.

"So do you like archaeology too?" Jack asked.

"I certainly find it interesting," Inara replied, "and I enjoy being outdoors."

"It is nice," Jack nodded, "especially in comparison with the fact I'll be back in the city doing grad school in the fall."

"I will be going into the army," Inara told him, "I don't know the exact date yet, but it will be only about a week after the dig."

"The army? That's so cool," said Jack. 

Inara shrugged, "It's not a big deal. Everybody does it here. It's required."

"Oh," Jack furrowed his brow, "I didn't know that."

Inara smiled, "It's okay, just not that big of a deal."

"So, when do you go to college?" Jack asked, "Although, I guess the first question would be how old you are," he continued in a rush, "if you don't mind my asking."

 

"I'm eighteen," Inara replied with a smile.

"That's when we usually go to college in the States," Jack told her, "I just finished my undergrad degree and I'm twenty-one."

"I see," Inara nodded, "eighteen seems young to decide the course of one's life."

"Well I've been interested in archaeology since so was about five," Jack admitted, "so it was a bit of a no brainer for me."

Inara chuckled, "That's kind of adorable."

"Unfortunately my mom is in possession of some rather embarrassing photos to prove it," Jack sighed.

"I need to see those," Inara told him seriously, "or we can't be friends."

"Oh god," Jack rolled his eyes.

At that point the bus pulled into the kibbutz and Inara tapped Jack's arm so that he would get up. 

"I'm going to drop my stuff in my room," she told him as they were filing off the bus, "but I'll meet you outside the dining hall for lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," Jack replied, "I'd like that."

"Sababa," Inara smiled, "Well, see you then."

 

\----------

Jack found that he minded getting up so early even less now that he had time with Inara to look forward to. She seemed to have settled herself on remaining in the square with him and together they dug deeper and deeper. By the time the first week of the dig came to an end, they were nearly level with where the top of the wall had been found. 

On the last night of the week, before they all dispersed for the weekend, a big group of the students gathered at the kibbutz pub for a drink.

 

"Aren't you going to have a drink?" Inara asked noting the lack of a glass in Jack's hand.

"I'm not really a big drinker," Jack said with a shrug, "Not my thing."

"What if I was to one buying?" Inara asked.

"How about this," Jack offered, "I'll let you buy me a drink tonight if you let me buy you lunch in Jerusalem this weekend."

Inara's face fell, "As much as I'd love that, I'm going to visit my family up north this weekend."

"Oh...Are you coming back to the dig next week?" Jack asked hopefully. 

"I'm here for the whole four weeks," Inara said. 

"Alright," Jack grinned, "new deal. Drink tonight, lunch next weekend."

"Deal," agreed Inara.

Jack smiled.

"So I'll be nice," Inara started, "what would like to drink? Or should I surprise you?"

"I'll trust you not to go too crazy," said Jack, "Just nothing too strong."

"You a light weight?" Inara teased.

"No,"Jack felt his face get red.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that," said Inara, "I think it's kinda cute."

She left him there to his blushing as she went to the bar.

Jack inhaled deeply hoping the redness would disappear before anyone else noticed.

"So tell me about your family," Jack said. They were halfway through their second drinks of the night, although Jack had stuck to Coke for his second one. 

"It's quite a large family," Inara warned him. 

Jack laughed, "I know a bit about large families."

"Really?" Inara raised her brow, "I've got three brothers, a sister and million aunts, uncles and cousins."

"Would you believe it if I said I could top that?" Jack laughed.

"Really?" Inara raised her brow.

Jack leaned back in his seat. "Four brothers, two sisters, various aunts and uncles, some of whom aren't a actually related to be but they're family anyway. Grandparents on both sides plus my mom's birth family and my dad's mentor from college and pseudo-father, who I consider my grandfather for all intents and purposes."

Inara blinked, "Alright, you win."

"I usually win the family game," Jack chuckled. 

"I haven't met a lot of Americans but is that common?" Inara asked.

"Definitely not," Jack replied, "nothing about my family is common or normal."

"That must be fun," Inara smiled.

Jack chuckled, "It really is. Of course, I'm closest to my immediate family, particularly my older sister."

"That's sweet," Inara smiled, "what's her name?"

"Angelica, but we all call her Angie," Jack replied, "and if you want to know the others you may need a pen and paper to write it all down."

"Maybe later," Inara joked.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Jack laughed.

"To crazy large families," Inara declared lifting up her glass.

"Finally, something I can actually drink to with pride," Jack copied her.

\----------

The following day, instead of cleaning pottery after lunch, they were released for the weekend. Shuttle buses were scheduled to come, one to Jerusalem and one to Tel Aviv. Jack was waiting at the pick up point with his bags when Inara, who was walking towards a waiting car, turned to face him so that she was walking backwards. He could have recognized her smile anywhere, although her red hair was now covered by a mint green hijab. 

"You'd better have your mom email you those pictures," Inara called to Jack.

"Don't worry I will if only not to face your wrath!" Jack hollered back at her.

Inara laughed and waved before turning back around to get into the car. Jack caught a glimpse of a man that must have been Inara's father before the car pulled away. 

The grin was still on Jack's face when he boarded the bus to Jerusalem.

\----------

When he returned the kibbutz after his time in Jerusalem, Jack found that all the other beds in his and the twins room had been filled, but he found that he didn't mind. He was just excited to see Inara again.

And see her he did, bright and early the next morning when they arrived at the dig site.

"Hey!" Inara waved.

Jack went to join her at their square. 

"Hi," greeted Jack, "How was your time with your family?"

"Not bad," Inara replied with a shrug.

"Cool, cool," Jack nodded.

"Did you like Jerusalem?" Inara asked.

"It's beautiful," said Jack, "The youth hostel that I went to is actually inside the Old City. All that history and culture."

"Yeah, it is pretty great," Inara smiled.

"Do you think you'd be able to come to the city with me next weekend?" Jack asked, messing with his gloves in an attempt to hide the flush spreading across his face, "Unless you need to go to your family again."

"I see them all the time," Inara laughed, "I think I can get away for a couple days."

Jack felt his blush deepen as he grinned at the ground, "Great."

Then their work had to begin and the conversation flowed freely as they dug. Right before they finished for the day, Jack hit something with his trowel. 

"Hold on," he said, scraping the dirt away from the large rock he was uncovering, "I think..."

"Did you find it?" Inara asked excitedly, "Is it the wall?"

Jack didn't answer, too focused on clearing dirt away from either side of the rock he had found. It wasn't quite at the same level, but to the left of the first rock Jack found another one. By the time Jack looked up from his trowel, everyone in the dig area was crowded around. Even the twins had emerged from their pit to watch the progress.

Jack was beaming as he continue to dig around, "Wow..." he took a moment to lean back.

Inara let out a happy laugh and crouched down to give Jack a hug around his shoulders. 

"Alright, don't get too excited," Gila, the PhD candidate in charge of their area, said, "Two rocks doesn't make a wall. You'll have a chance to explore more tomorrow."

Jack tried not to let Gila’s words discourage him but he knew she was right. So they packed and cleaned up before boarding the bus for the day.

"I can't wait to see if it's actually the wall," Jack enthused, practically bouncing in his bus seat, "I mean, can you believe it?"

"You're cute when you're excited," Inara giggled.

Jack was too excited to be embarrassed and simply grinned wider. 

As the days went on it became clear that they had indeed found the continuation of the city wall. Rather than extending from the main body of the previously excavated wall, however, this area had made a ninety-degree turn. This had completely changed the way the site was being envisioned. Now they realized that one of the areas they had been digging, which had been thought to have been within the city limits, was now more likely to have been outside the city instead. 

Inara had christened them Crows of the Night’s Watch because they were standing on the Wall.

And before they knew it the week was coming to a close and they were discussing their weekend plans in more thorough detail. They were lounging together in one of the kibbutz's grassy areas under a large tree. 

"Should I call the hostel in the Old City again?" Jack asked, "It was actually quite nice there."

"That would be nice, I don't usually stay in the Old City when I visit," Inara replied falling back on the grass.

 

"How often do you visit there?" Jack asked curiously. 

"It depends," Inara shrugged, "I have a few friends that live there and bus tickets are cheap and couches are free."

"So you know some insider secrets, then," Jack said, turning his face up to the sun, "Places to go that only locals know."

"You could say that," Inara chuckled.

"I'm excited to let an expert lead the way," Jack smiled.

"I'll do my best," Inara proclaimed proudly.

Soon enough, the weekend came and Jack found himself packing up his things and waiting for the Jerusalem. This time, however, he had Inara by his side. 

"You ready to go?" Inara asked as they went to get on the bus, in the rather nonexistent line.

"More than ready," Jack shifted his bag on his shoulder.

The bus trip to Jerusalem wasn't all that long and it went by even quicker with their conversation flowing. 

"Can I ask you something?" 

Inara grinned, "You just did."

Jack rolled his eyes, "Wow that was hilarious. Seriously, thought."

"Sure," agreed Inara. 

"Last weekend, when your dad picked you up, you were wearing a hijab," Jack said, "but this weekend you're not. Why? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's fine to ask," Inara replied, "I don't mind. My family is pretty observant, but I'm not. Even though my dad respects my decision not to wear a hijab in my everyday life, I wear them when I'm at home as a sign of respect for my parents continuing observance."

"Okay," Jack nodded.

"That and it hides the fact my hair is red," Inara giggled, "no one but my sisters know about that because they helped me do it."

That startled a laugh out of Jack. "Well, I think the red looks lovely."

"Thanks," Inara smiled, "I plan on keeping it at least for a little while longer."

 

Jack let out a laugh as the two of them relaxed into easy conversation.

Once they got into Jerusalem Jack led the way to the youth hostel, first by bus and then walking. Unlike most of his siblings, Jack had been born with an innate sense of direction, so he didn't really have to look at a map to find it. 

"Okay just a little farther," Jack replied as they walked.

"How did you even find this place?" Inara asked as they walked.

“Luck,” laughed Jack, “and some careful googling.”

"Impressive," Inara nodded, "alright I'm just following your lead."

"This way," Jack led Inara down the street, this hostel had a weird sort of entrance that was almost tucked away from view.

"I'm guessing this place isn't as sketchy as it looks," Inara commented. 

"It is," assured Jack. 

The lobby area was small and sparsely furnished with only a few chairs and a small desk in front of a wall of keys hung on small hooks. 

 

Jack walked over to the desk with Inara at his side, "Hello?" he called out.

 

A guy emerged from a back room, a cell phone tucked between his ear and his shoulder, speaking in rapid Hebrew. Now, Jack had learned some useful phrases in preparation for this trip, thanks to Jamie's linguistic skills, but this was so far beyond his level of expertise. Fortunately, this was the same guy he had talked to the previous weekend and his eyes lit up in recognition when he saw Jack.

"Shalom!" he beamed, "You came back."

"Of course," Jack smiled, "and I brought a friend this time."

"Shalom, salaam, hello," the man greeted, "I am Or and I run this home. Jack," with his accent, it came out sounding more like Jeck, "and friend. You want beds in dorms or private room? We have two person rooms that just became empty."

Jack looked over at Inara, "I'm alright with that if you are."

"Sure," Inara replied.

The benefit of the smaller room was not only more privacy but also more security because they could lock the room door and keep their belongings safe. 

When they stepped into the room, Jack and Inara also found that they had acquired a room with bunk beds.

"I call the top!" Inara declared dropping her bag on the floor and climbing onto the higher bunk.

"No fair," Jack laughed, "I wanted the top bunk."

"Too bad," Inara giggled.

"Man I never even got top bunk when I had to share with my brothers," Jack let out a sigh taking the bottom bunk.

"Then I'm just keeping the tradition alive," Inara told him, peeking over the edge of the bed to look down at him.

Jack let out a huff as he flopped onto the bed and folded his arms across his chest.

"Aw come on," Inara giggled, "We can switch tomorrow night if you want."

The thought of sleeping in the same bad Inara had slept in brought a flush to Jack's cheeks. 

"It's alright," he said, keeping his voice steady, "I'll survive."

"Okay," Inara shrugged, "your loss," she then slipped down off the bed, "and we should get food."

"Agreed," said Jack, patting his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and cell phone, "Any suggestions?"

"Well we could check out what's in Mamilla," Inara shrugged.

Jack hadn't explored the mall much more than the Croc store he'd come across near the entrance, "Okay, sure."

They had only walked a few blocks in the right direction when Jack heard it. 

"Hold on," he said, frowning, "is that the Pirates of the Caribbean theme?"

"I don't know," Inara shook her head, "I've never seen it."

"We'll get back to that," said Jack, "but I think that it is the theme music. C'mon."

They followed the tune around the few corners until they came upon a crowd of people gathered around a large, red cloth dragon being flown around by three people. 

"What in the world is going on here..." Jack just stood there, his jaw agape. 

Inara huffed out a laugh as the dragon swooped over the crowd to cheers and exclamations, "I have no idea."

 

"Wanna check it out some more?" Jack asked.

 

"Sure!" Inara agreed. 

The two of them stepped forward and were swept into the crowd. Everyone was cheering and laughing. Someone threw an arm around Jack's shoulders and said something he couldn't hear while pointing upwards at the dragon that was making its way towards them. Jack smiled and nodded. Apparently he had agreed to something because the guy hoisted Jack up and he gave a small surprised yelp before laughing and reaching out to brush the dragon's belly with his fingers. 

He caught a glimpse of Inara giggling as she pulled out her phone to snap some photos. Jack turned and stuck his tongue out at the camera, crossing his eyes. The guy put him down and said something else that was lost in the noise before disappearing into the crowd.

Jack made his way back to Inara, "I need to see those pictures."

"Only if you promise not to delete them," Inara told him. 

"Delete them?" Jack scoffed, "Hell no! I want to send them to my brother AJ. He'd get a kick out it."

Inara reluctantly passed Jack her phone, "Fine, here you go."

Jack grinned as he flicked through the pictures, "These are awesome."

"Yeah yeah," Inara said, rolling her eyes with a laugh, "Come on, pick some to send yourself and let's go check out whatever the heck is going on here."

Jack sighed and picked his pictures as they walked forward until Inara came to a halt.

"Are those centaurs jousting?" Inara stared.

Jack looked up from the phone and his mouth fell open in shock. Indeed, two men dressed as centaurs were holding long lances and facing off on a long, narrow strip of the street.

"I think they are..." Jack found himself staring as well.

"Let's watch," Inara said. 

She grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him forward towards the sidelines of the jousting match.

Now despite being a professed history buff Jack had to admit that to him the whole purpose of jousting seemed baffling. But watching centaurs joust was even more baffling. Especially when, instead of trying to knock each other over with their lances, the two centaur knights simply knocked the two weapons together in a friendly manner.

"Well that was... A bit of a let down," Inara sighed.

Jack, meanwhile, was booing with a majority of the gathered group there, his hands cupped around either side of his mouth. 

"Shall we keep going?" Inara asked grabbing his hand.

 

"Lead the way, m'lady," Jack said, glancing down at where Inara's hand was wrapped around his. 

Inara did quite happily, their joint hand swinging lightly between them as they walked. 

 

\----------

The month-long excavation season came to an end and before they knew it the time had come for Jack and Inara to say their goodbyes.

"This has been fun," Jack smiled, "I wish I didn't have to go."

"Well even if you did stay I'll be off for training in a week or so," Inara replied.

"Right," Jack sighed, "So what exactly are you going to be doing?"

"If I told you, I would have to kill you," joked Inara.

"I hope you're just messing with me," Jack laughed, "that's not exactly how I imagined I would go."

"I'm messing with you," assured Inara, knocking his shoulder lightly with her own, "I am going into intelligence, though, so I really can't say much."

"Tell me know thing," requested Jack, "Will you be back at the dig next year?"

Inara shrugged, "At the moment I can't say."

Jack felt his heart drop, "So then when will I see you again?"

"We can Skype?" Inara offered, "You should come back to the dig anyway. If we're both lucky, I'll be here too."

"I suppose," Jack sighed, looking down at his hands. 

"Hey," Inara said, resting her hand on both of Jack's, "you haven't seen the last of me. Promise."

Before Jack could say anything else, the bus that was heading towards Tel Aviv and the airport pulled up. 

"That's my ride," Jack said unnecessarily, hoisting his backpack strap onto his shoulder. 

"Until next time," Inara said. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek lightly. Jack felt a blush spreading from the point of contact.

Jack was exhausted. He had been traveling for more hours than he cared to think about and all he was to do was go home. Of course, he had to catch a taxi first and that definitely did not sound like fun. As he stepped out into the baggage claim area, however, he heard a very familiar voice. 

"Unca Jacky!"

Only a few feet away, Angie stood with Lexi in her arms. The two year old was stretching her arms out towards him.

At that and despite his exhaustion Jack couldn't help but smile as he dragged his bag towards them, "Well this is a surprise."

"Mama told me when you were coming in so I figured I'd surprise you," Angie smiled, "I hope you don't mind." 

"Of course not," Jack replied, booping Lexi on the nose to make the girl giggle.

"So home?" Angie shifted Lexi in her arms.

"Actually," Jack scratched at the back of his neck, "I'm not quite sure I'm ready to dive back into the chaos just yet."

Angie smiled, "Alright. Why don't we go grab some early lunch just the two of us."

Lexi made a small noise and let her head drop onto Angie's shoulder. 

"The three of us," corrected Angie.

"Sounds good to me," Jack nodded.

"Okay, I would offer to help but you're in charge of your own suitcases," Angie nodded to his bags.

"I'm exhausted, not an invalid," Jack said, lifting his backpack and taking the handle of his suitcase in hand. 

Angie cast Jack a sideways glance. "So," she said conversationally, "who is she?"

Jack nearly tripped over his own feet. "What?"

"The girl," Angie smiled, "Or boy, I'm not picky."

"Angie!" Jack's jaw dropped.

"You're face says it all," Angie smirked as she moved a strand of hair from Lexi's face, "so you'd better tell me or I'll make you tell me."

"How did you know?" Jack asked. 

"I'm your older sister," Angie replied, "I just do."

Jack raised an incredulous eyebrow, but Angie just smiled beatifically and said no more. 

Jack let out a sigh, "Okay, fine, you're right. There's a girl."

Angie giggled as they reached her car, "Okay, and?"

"And I'll probably never see her again," Jack said glumly. 

 

"And what makes you say that?" Angie asked as she went to put Lexi n her car seat.

"Well for one she lives thousands of miles away," Jack sighed.

"Which of course means that you can't speak to her," said Angie dryly, "Because we never talked to our cousins when they lived in London."

"Angie," Jack rolled his eyes.

"Then give me a better excuse," Angie folded her arms across her chest.

"She's going into the army, Ange," said Jack, "and she doesn't know where she'll be stationed after training."

"Oh..." Angie paused, "I wasn't expecting that."

"Nothing even happened with us," continued Jack, "I mean, I like her and all and we spent time together, but nothing happened. Of course, I want to back to the dig next year on the off chance she'll be there, but there is no guarantee that--"

He was interrupted by Angie pulling him into a hug. 

"Listen, Jacky," she said gently, "If it's meant to be, it'll happen. It may be next year or it might be in several years. The universe has a way of working itself out."

"You always know just the right thing to say," Jack rest his head on her shoulder, "how do you do that?"

"Because we all know I'm the smart one," Angie teased.

\----------

Jack was honestly surprised by how many people remembered him when he returned to the kibbutz the following summer. Even the professor in charge of the entire dig had welcomed him back with a clap on the shoulder.

"Jack!"

Jack turned to see Nate heading towards him beaming, "Hey!" he hollered back.

Nate pulled him into a half-hug half-headlock, ruffling his hair. Jack laughed and pushed him away. 

"Where's that good for nothing brother of yours?" Jack asked.

"Somewhere," Nate shrugged, "I'm sure he'll turn up at some point."

"Have you gotten your room assignment yet?" Jack asked, lifting the envelope with his room key and giving it a little shake.

"Not yet," Nate shook his head, "but they'd be crazy to split us up."

"We'll stage a revolt if they do," laughed Jack.

"Do you know if Inara will be back or not?" Nate asked.

Jack groaned, "I wish I knew."

"I think you're about to find out."

Nate was looking over Jack's shoulder and he gestured with his chin. Slowly, Jack turned. He saw Joshua headed in their direction, his grin matching his twin's. Beside Joshua was Inara, clad in an olive green uniform with her hair pulled back into a bun.

Jack started walking towards her, a million thoughts running through his head at once and his heart pounding. This whole time he'd been acutely aware that his feelings were growing stronger, he only hoped she felt the same way.

"Well don't you look all official," Jack beamed.

"I may or may not have come directly from base," Inara said, "and I also may or may not have half begged for this month off so that I could come back for the digging season."

“It's good to see you,” Jack grinned. 

They both hesitated slightly before leaning in for a hug. Once it had started, Jack didn't want it to stop. 

"I missed you," Inara sighed.

 

"I missed you too," Jack smiled.

The sound of Nate letting out a low whistle made them split apart and jump back nearly ten feet from each other.

The twins shared a grin and began to sing-song, "Jack and Inara sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

"You are such children," Jack grumbled, his cheeks darkening.

Inara looked away her face turning red as well, "Just let me know when you're done," she muttered.

"They'll never stop," Jack sighed, Nate and Joshua still chanting in the background, "Just ignore them and maybe they'll get bored and wander off."

"I only hope you're right," Inara sighed, "I mean do you feel that way about me?"

Jack felt his cheeks heating even further and he cleared his throat nervously, "I forgot how blunt you are sometimes."

“Will you answer me?” Inara pressed. 

 

"Oh," Inara's face turned red again, "I had no idea."

"And now that I am seeing you again," Jack sighed, "I would like to know if you feel the same?”

When Inara didn't answer Jack's heart sank, but he tried to put on a brave face. 

"It's okay if you don't," Jack said, "I mean, I would love to stay friends anyway. I'll get over it at some poi-"

"No!" Inara interrupted, "I mean, you don't have to get over it."

Jack blinked and shook his head, "I don't?"

 

"You are very cute," Inara said, "and smart and nice. I really enjoy it when we spend time together and I missed you very much. So maybe we can try? Four weeks a year isn't a lot of time, but maybe we can make it work."

"I'm more than willing to give it a shot," Jack nodded enthusiastically. 

\----------

July 2026

It was hot, but that wasn't really an unexpected thing. Despite the heat, Jack had chosen to sit outside so that Inara would be able to easily spot him. The ice coffee in front of him was doing its job in cooling him from the inside.

He swirled his straw around in the sweet mixure that was like a slushy more than anything else.

"Jack!"

Jack looked up to see Inara coming towards him wearing her dress uniform.

"There's my favorite soldier," Jack smiled.

"I think you mean ex-soldier," Inara smirked sitting down across from him, "it's official."

"Not quite," Jack smiled.

"What do you mean?" Inara raised her brow.

Jack reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of scissors with a big bow stuck on the handle.

Inara laughed and reached over to snag the fraying end of the ribbon between her thumb and forefinger. 

"It's so...pink," she commented. 

Jack shrugged, "Nothing wrong with pink."

"That's true," Inara laughed, she then reached for her wallet to withdraw for official military ID.

"Now you're sure you won't get in trouble for this, right?" Jack asked as he handed over the scissors. 

"Positive," Inara assured him, "I am decommissioned, as it were."

In one quick movement, she took the scissors and snipped her military ID in half. Jack gave a small cheer and clapped his hands, not caring that it drew the attention of other café patrons.

"How does it feel to be a civilian again?" Jack asked.

Inara hummed as if in thought, "Give it a little longer and I'll tell you."

"Are you at least looking forward to starting college in the fall?" Jack prodded. 

Inara had the vague feeling that he was trying to push the conversation to a particular point, but she wasn't sure exactly what that point was.

"I suppose I am," Inara shrugged, "but that just means more time away from you."

"Not exactly," Jack sipped at his drink.

Inara cocked her head curiously, "Explain."

"Well, as you know I finished my undergrad a couple months ago," Jack said, "I may or may not be doing my PhD at Bar Ilan."

It took Inara a moment for the implications to set in. Bar Ilan was a university in the city of Tel Aviv. It also happened to be the same place that she was going to be doing her undergrad.

"You mean," A grin spread across Inara's face but before she finished her sentence she threw her arms around Jack.

Jack chuckled warmly, his breath ghosting over her cheek as he squeezed her. 

"Ani ohev otach," he murmured.

"I love you too," Inara laced her fingers with his.

\----------

July 2028

It was nowhere near as hot as Israel in the large back yard of the Schuyler mansion in Albany. The weather had cooperated and the sun was shining brightly. The perennial flowers were still in bloom and filled the air with the sweet scent of their blossoms. 

 

Just like his older brother, Jack and a Inara were getting married on the sprawling grounds that we're home to many fond memories. And now it was going to be home of something even more amazing, their wedding.

"You ready?" Alex went to his son.

"Dad," Jack sighed, "please don't give me the whole 'my life is about to change' talk."

 

Alex raised his hands in surrender, obviously sensing the nervousness in Jack's voice, "Alright, alright. I won't say anything."

Alex reached forward to straighten Jack's tie. 

"It's fine, dad," Jack said, swiping his hand away.

"Okay," Alex sighed, "I'm done."

A few short minutes of silence later, the officiant came to get him so they could start.

When the next upbeat song began to play, Inara decided to take a break. Her feet were starting to hurt even in the flats that she was wearing and the long skirt of her bindalli was starting to get a little tiresome. Of course she was happy to be able to show off her Turkish culture, not to mention it was a bindalli she and her mother had chosen together for this special day. Even though her parents hadn't come, not comfortable with a non-Muslim wedding, it made her feel close to them.

She slipped over to a table and massaged at her feet and let out a sigh. Inara looked over at Jack who was happily chatting with his siblings and smiled, he'd be busy with them for awhile.

"How does it feel to be the newest Mrs. Hamilton?"

Inara turned to see Jamie's wife Marisol smiling at her. Inara had met the other Hamilton siblings' significant others before but she had spent the most time with Marisol.

"Good," Inara smiled, "well more than good," her face began to flush, "to be honest I have no words."

Marisol laughed, "I know the feeling. I must admit that I had an ulterior motive to coming over here. Come on. It's time to get welcomed into the club."

With that cryptic statement, Marisol lead Inara to one of the tables furthest from the dance floor where Theo, Richie, and Eli were sitting. 

Inara sat down in the empty chair between Marisol and Richie, "What exactly is going on here?" she asked.

"Today is the day of your official induction," Eli proclaimed, "into the Hamilspouse Club, a safe space in which to air all of your Hamilton family related grievances in the most loving way possible."

"The Hamilspouse Club vows to be there for all other Club members," Theo continued, "and support them. As one of the founding members, I hearby invite Inara to join our ranks. Inara, do you accept the invitation?"

Inara giggled, "I accept."

"We must drink!" said Richie, "Marisol?"

Marisol pulled out a bottle of whiskey that Inara swore hadn't been there before and began pouring out shots. And as they passed her glass Inara remembered she really shouldn't be drinking... At least not for the next seven months that is.

"Do you have anything non-alcoholic?" Inara asked sheepishly.

"Of course," Marisol replied easily, pulling over one of the pitchers of non-alcoholic punch that were placed on each table, "I know that Muslims don't drink alcohol but I've seen you drink before. So come on. Spill. Big plans with the Mister later?"

Theo laughed, "Yeah, good luck with that. Weddings are exhausting. Philip and I barely wanted to see each other after our wedding day, let alone have sex."

"Not exactly," Inara's blush began to deepen.

It was Theo who picked up on it first, "You're pregnant aren't you," she grinned.

"Two months," Inara replied, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Oh my god!" Marisol flung her arms around Inara, "That is so exciting.

"Well no one else other than Jack knows at the moment," Inara sighed, "and today is probably not the best day to put that out there."

"A Hamilspouse Club secret," Richie offered, raising his glass. The others cheered in agreement.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're very sorry about all the confusion with this chapter. Hopefully it's fixed now!

December 2029

  


“Elizabeth?”  
  
Lizzie barely glanced up from her phone, “It’s Lizzie-” she corrected finding herself face to face with who she could only describe as the hottest guy she’d ever seen.  
  
“Alright Lizzie,” He smiled his bright blue eyes glinting, “I’m Sidney, I see we have you down for just a haircut today-”  
  
“Uh huh,” Lizzie got to her feet, she couldn’t get over just how swoony she was feeling.  
  
“Can I get you some tea or water?” Sidney asked.  
  
“Tea,” Lizzie replied quietly feeling her face getting warm.  
  
“Alright well we’ll get you seated and I’ll get you some tea,” Sidney led her to his station pulling out the chair so Lizzie could take a seat before disappearing to get her tea.  
  
Lizzie withdrew her phone and rapidly began to text Liam.  
  
Lizzie: Oh my god, why is the guy cutting my hair today so hot? Like insanely hot with an adorable accent that might be Australian I think?  
  
Liam: Why are you always the lucky one?  
  
“Alright here is your tea,” Sidney returned with the paper cup.  
  
“Thanks,” Lizzie smiled shoving her phone under her leg.  
  
“So what are you looking to have done today,” Sidney began to fluff out her hair by running his fingers through it and Lizzie couldn’t help but notice that she liked this a lot more than she usually did.  
  
“Well I was thinking I just needed a little trim off the ends, refresh the layers and I was toying with idea of getting bangs,” Lizzie informed him.  
  
“All of that is fairly doable,” Sidney smiled running his hands through Lizzie’s hair one more time sending shivers down her spine as he did so.  
  
“Great,” Lizzie replied.  
  
“Now I’m just going to get an educator and then we’ll get started,” Sidney disappeared.  
  
As soon as he did so Lizzie withdrew her phone once again.  
Lizzie: He’s so cute!  
  
Liam: Pics! I demand pics!  
  
Lizzie: Are you crazy? I can’t do that without getting caught.  
  
Liam: :-(

Lizzie: I’ll tell you all about it later.  
  
Liam: That’s not the same.

Lizzie locked her phone and slipped in into her pocket when she heard Sidney returning with his educator.

"Hello Lizzie," the educator shook her hand, "I'm Mandy, and what were you looking to get done today?"

Lizzie once again quickly explained how she wanted her hair done, "Definitely thinking bangs," she nodded, "a little something to frame my face."

Mandy then started chatting with Sidney about how to achieve Lizzie's desired look and she tuned them out focusing on the way Sidney's muscles as they flexed under his black shirt, his smile, the way his hair did that adorable little flip....

  
"Ready to get started?"

Lizzie was snapped from her daze and she felt her cheeks coloring when she realized that Mandy was gone and Sidney had his full focus on her.

"Yeah," Lizzie nodded, "sure."

\----------

"Thanks for visiting us today, Ms. Hamilton," the receptionist said as she typed in the information into the credit card machine, "Would you like to make another appointment?"

"Yes please," Lizzie replied, "In about six weeks?"

The receptionist clicked through her calendar, "That's mid-January. I've got several openings on the 19th."

Lizzie kept her gaze down as she asked, "I'd like to see Sidney again, if that's alright?"

The receptionist let out a barely audible sigh and muttered, "Of course you would. The girls always want to see Sidney."

Lizzie felt her cheeks burning, but she lifted her head and stared down the receptionist until she sighed again.

"January 19th at two thirty," the receptionist told her.

"Thanks," Lizzie muttered putting her card back in her purse and walking away.

Back at the apartment she shared with her brother, Lizzie flopped down on the couch with a groan.

"All the girls want to see Sidney," she muttered snidely, mimicking the receptionists voice before sighing and returning to her own voice, "And why wouldn't they? He's so hot."

"Who's hot?" Liam asked as he stepped out of the kitchen, "Oh, are you talking about Mr. Hair?"

"His name is Sidney," Lizzie informed him, "Sidney Holly."

Liam laughed, "You've only met him once and already you're saying his name like you're about to practice signing things as Mrs. Elizabeth Holly."

Lizzie chucked a throw pillow at Liam, who batted it away easily.

"Well it's true," Liam adjusted his glasses, "and he must be seriously hot if you've fallen for him this hard."

Lizzie let out a whine, "This isn't fair, in all the hair places in all the world he had to walk into mine-"

"Actually didn't you walk into his?" Liam raised his brow.

"Shut up," Lizzie glared at her older brother.

"I'm just saying," Liam said, raising his hands in surrender, "It's not like you to get enamored with someone so quickly."

"What can I say he's really hot," Lizzie sighed.

"Yeah well you can think about that after we finish packing for break," Liam replied.

"Break is still two weeks away," said Lizzie, "It's too early to pack."

"This is why you're never prepared when we go places," Liam informed his sister. This was a point of contention between the two of them. Liam was a planner and an early packer while Lizzie liked to go with the flow and was never ready until about an hour before they needed to leave.

"Not true," Lizzie pouted.

"How about that time we went to San Francisco for a long weekend and you forgot your toothbrush, hairbrush, pajamas and your swimsuit," Liam sighed.

Lizzie shrugged, "It's not like we I couldn't get them there."

"I don't know how you can live like that," said Liam, shaking his head fondly.

"I'm special," Lizzie brushed her new bangs from her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," Liam brushed her off.

\----------

January 2030

The salon school wasn't quite as busy as it had been the last time Lizzie was there.

"So, which one is Mr. Sexy?" Liam said, slightly too loud for the space, his hands stuck casually in his pockets.

"Hush!" Lizzie hissed, her cheeks coloring. Liam did not look chastened in the slightest.

"You know that's the only reason I'm here," Liam smirked, "I need to get a good look at this Adonis for myself."

"Well you don't have to be so loud about it," frowned Lizzie.

"Oh I must, I must," replied Liam.

"I swear," Lizzie growled, "when we get home I'm gonna kick your ass so hard."

"Lizzie?"

Sidney was standing in front of them, an amused smile pulling at the corners of his lip.

"Hey!" Lizzie greeted, her voice cracking slightly. She cleared her throat, "Um, hi Sidney. This is my brother Liam."

"Nice to meet you," Sidney greeted, "Love the hair."

Liam's hair was constantly changing color, usually something pastel despite the fact that their parents were always talking about how the constant bleaching would make his hair fall out one day. Lizzie had gone through that phase too, but while Liam never grew out of it, she had eventually decided to just stick to highlights. This month, Liam's hair was sea-foam green, although his natural color was starting to show at the roots.

"Thanks," Liam said, running his fingers through his hair and giving Sidney a megawatt smile, his flirting smile.

"Come on back," Sidney offered, turning to lead the way to his chair.

"Stop it," Lizzie commanded her brother.

"Stop what?" asked Liam with mock innocence.

"I saw him first," she reminded him.

"Well if he's not straight, point him in my direction," Liam requested.

"Turn off the charm until I figure it out, Casanova," Lizzie grumbled.

Liam glared.

"Mine," Lizzie mouthed before going off with Sidney.

Unfortunately, Liam didn't seem to take the hint and he followed them back.

"You should wait in the lobby," Lizzie told him pointedly.

"You don't mind if I observe, do you Sidney?" Liam asked.

"Of course not," Sidney said, "I'm used to it by now."

"So," Liam said as they walked, "did you know that Lizzie is a kick ass practical effects artist? Her latex work is to die for."

"Oh yeah?" Sidney asked, eyeing Lizzie in a way that made her blush.

"You want to see?" Lizzie asked shyly, "I have a copy of my portfolio on my phone."

"You've seen my art," Sidney said with a crooked smile, "I'd love to see yours."

Lizzie flicked through her phone and pulled up her album designated as her portfolio, "I like fantasy stuff so there are lots of creatures and elves... Things like that."

"Oh wow," Sidney said, his eyes widening, "You made all of these from scratch?"

"Mostly," Lizzie replied, "Sometimes I had to make a full make up look using just a couple of pre-made pieces, sometimes I had to carve foam or mold latex."

"That's wild," Sidney grinned, "I like this one," he stopped on what was one of Lizzie's favorites too.

They did eventually get to Lizzie's haircut, but it was a miracle they even got through it with the way she and Sidney kept talking.

Almost as soon as they were out of the salon, Liam turned to Lizzie and grabbed her arm.

"You have to ask him out."

"You think so?" Lizzie asked.

"Hell yeah," Liam scoffed, "like I said if you won't I will."

\----------

March 2030

This was it. Today was the day. Lizzie and Sidney had been texting on and off for the past several weeks and now that she was coming in for another haircut, she had decided to finally ask him out.

They went through the same dance of Lizzie telling Sidney how she wanted her hair styled, but she thought it would be best to hold off on asking him just in case it was such a shock and he cut off too much.

They kept up the usual idle chit-chat as Sidney cut. He had always been good, but even Lizzie could tell that he was improving with each visit. He was even allowed to do her highlights without even consulting an instructor first.

"You know this honey color will really bring out your eyes," Sidney commented.

"It makes me look like my eldest brother," Lizzie laughed, "Except then I'd have to spend hours curling it and I would never be able to leave my apartment."

"We can't be having that," said Sidney as he finger combed some product through her hair. It smelled like mango.

"Would you miss my face too much?" Lizzie teased.

"Yup," said Sidney, popping the p.

  
Lizzie found herself blushing at his comment and fiddling with her hands.

"Oh," she said softly.

Sidney stepped back and clapped his hands once, "Alright! You're all done."

"Thanks..." Lizzie sat there for a moment longer, "So ummm Sidney-"

"You already thinking about what you want for next time?" Sidney raised his brow and set to work cleaning up his station.

"Actually would you like to go out sometime..." Lizzie paused, "with me, like on a date?"

Sidney looked up from his broom, surprise evidenced in his expression, "Me? Really? I mean, you are so out of my league."

"What?" Lizzie scoffed, "If anything you're way out of my league."

  
Simultaneously, the two of them burst into awkward laughter.

"So, is that a yes?" Lizzie asked, biting her lip.

"Hell yeah that's a yes," Sidney laughed, "How about tomorrow night at seven?"

  
"Sounds perfect," Lizzie agreed.

\----------

March 2031

The knocking at Sidney's apartment door had a frantic edge to it, the kind of thing that made him almost drop the plate he was holding.

"Coming!" he called out.

When he opened the door, Sidney found his girlfriend in a wide-eyed panic. She was also wearing a knit beanie pulled low over her forehead, which wouldn't have been too odd for March if they didn't live in California.

"Please fix this," Lizzie whined.

"Fix what?" Sidney raised his brow.

Lizzie pushed her way in and shut the door before pulling off her cap, "This!"

Never before this moment had Sidney fully realized the expression "struck speechless.” The highlights in Lizzie's hair, instead of their usual golden honey color were bright, coppery orange.

"Please tell me you can fix this," Lizzie pouted.

"Oh I can fix it," Sidney nodded, "but can I just say this is what you get for cheating on me with another stylist," he laughed.

"Fix me," Lizzie whined, "I'm sorry, okay? I was desperate and you don't have any openings for a month."

"Okay," Sidney sighed, "well I don't have any of my stuff here but come with me to the salon and we'll get you squared away."

Lizzie insisted in pulling the hat on before they left the apartment, unwilling to let people see her hair. Luckily, the salon where Sidney had worked since graduating wasn't that far away from his apartment.

Once sitting in the chair Lizzie was still hesitant to take off her hat.

"There is no way I can fix this without you taking it off," Sidney.

Lizzie sighed and slipped off the hat. Under the salon lights, the copper was more Carrot Top than anything else. Sidney ran his fingers through her hair a few times. The cut wasn't bad, but that color had to go.

"Well before I mix something up do you want to go back to your natural color or something else?" Sidney asked, "because whatever it is we're probably going to need to do an all over dye."

Lizzie sighed, "I was afraid of that. Maybe something a bit different. If I have to dye it all, I might as well go all out."

"What are you thinking?" Sidney asked.

"Subtle flair," Lizzie replied, then she frowned, "Does that make sense?"

"I think so," said Sidney slowly, "So maybe something close to your natural color, but with hints of violet?"

"I like that," Lizzie nodded.

"And we'll do a deep condition to help prevent any further damage," Sidney brushed his fingers through her hair.

Soothed into comfort by the light head massage, Lizzie wasn't thinking when she next spoke.

"If you just moved in with me then I wouldn't have to worry about this. Live-in stylist."

"Okay well maybe I'll do just that," Sidney reached for his combs to start sectioning out her hair.

"Do what?" Lizzie let out a contented sigh.

"Move in with you and Liam," Sidney replied putting in the first clip.

Lizzie's eyes widened. She had thought about this before, of course. They were a year into their relationship and going strong, so moving in together was the next logical step, but she hadn't mustered up the courage to bring it up before.

"My lease is up in a few months," Sidney continued, "I could move in then."

He seemed calm, but Lizzie could hear the questioning tone in his voice.

  
Lizzie swallowed, "Sure, that would be great."

  
"Okay," Sidney agreed.

"Okay," repeated Lizzie with finality.

\-----------

December 2032

  
The buzzing sound of their doorbell broke through Sidney's concentration on the book he was reading. He was currently home alone, as Lizzie and gone out to get something for dinner and Liam, having recently been hired on from his Pixar internship to a full-time animator, was working late doing the random tasks that the senior animators preferred not to do.

Of course, Sidney knew who was at the door. He had been expecting them.

  
Setting his book to the side he went to get the door, "Mr and Mrs. Hamilton," Sidney smiled as he opened the door, "It's so nice to finally meet you in person."

They had talked a few times back when he and Lizzie had first started dating, but only briefly and only over Skype.

"It's nice to meet you Sidney," Mrs. Hamilton held out her hand to him first.

"You too, Mrs. Hamilton," agreed Sidney, shaking her hand, "Mr. Hamilton. Come on in. Lizzie should be home soon."

Sidney couldn't help but notice the way Mrs. Hamilton gently urged her husband to shake his hand as well. Mr. Hamilton's eyes seemed particularly piercing in a way they hadn't been over the video chat and his hand shake was was firm.

Sidney swallowed a little bit trying to calm the nerves he was beginning to feel.

"Alex will you stop?" Mrs. Hamilton sighed.

"I'm not doing anything," Mr. Hamilton said, "Can't I shake the man's hand without being accused of things?"

Mrs. Hamilton rolled her eyes which made Sidney laugh slightly as it reminded him a lot of Lizzie.

The three of them sat around the kitchen table as they waited for a pot of coffee to brew. To Sidney, it was easy to see what parts of the apartment's decor could be attributed to each of the three of them, although it did come together really nicely, even with Liam's absolute insistence on getting kitchenware that was randomly and brightly colored without always necessarily matching.

"So Lizzie has mentioned you want to get a salon of your own," Mrs. Hamilton started.

"Yup," Sidney nodded, "probably still a few years in the future though."

"Is it a difficult endeavor?" Mr. Hamilton asked.

Sidney laughed, "Oh yeah. Unless you're moving into a space that's already set up, there are a lot of things to take into consideration when it comes to equipment. How many chairs, what kind of chairs, do you want the sinks at each station or by the wall. I'm actually working with another person I went to school with, we were very good friends all throughout and she hates the place where she's working right now."

"That all sounds good," Mrs. Hamilton smiled.

"She has however let me decide on what our name is going to be," Sidney grinned, "guess I have a knack for this sort of thing."

After a brief interlude where Sidney poured them all coffee, he continued.

"We're going to be calling it Wicked Cuts," he chuckled, "because people will come to us to get a wicked cut and color."

"Sounds like a fun place," Mrs. Hamilton smiled.

"Once we get it off the ground and it's more than a figment of my imagination you should check us out," Sidney nodded.

"I may take you up on that," laughed Mrs. Hamilton, patting lightly at the side of hair, a dark black with strands of silvery-gray shooting through it that was styled into a smooth bob.

"What about you Mr. Hamilton?" Sidney raised his brow, "We are planning to cater to everyone."

"I don't have the desire to do hair upkeep anymore," Mr. Hamilton sighed, "I used to keep it long, but now I just get it clipped every few weeks to keep it neat."

"When he started going gray, you should have seen how he fretted," Mrs. Hamilton confided.

Mr. Hamilton shrugged, "I'm a vain man. What can I say? I've embraced it now."

"My silver fox," said Mrs. Hamilton fondly.

Sidney couldn't help but notice the pleased smile on Mr. Hamilton's face as she said that.

Any further conversation was interrupted by Lizzie's arrival.

"I'm home!" she called out as she entered.

Lizzie obviously saw her mother's handbag where it hung on a hook by the front door with their jackets because the next thing that could be heard was her happy gasp.

"Mama! Pops!" she exclaimed, bursting into the kitchen.

Her parents rose to greet her and the three of them swept into a hug.

"We missed you so much," Mr. Hamilton kissed the top of her head, "When are you moving back?"

"Come on, Pops, you know I can't do that," Lizzie said, shaking her head fondly as if they had had this conversation a million times over, "I have a life out here. That indie film company I've been working for? Their head FX artist got an offer from some big place, so I've been promoted."

Mr. Hamilton let out a sigh and hugged his youngest close to him, "I know, I know."

"Plus," Lizzie continued, "Liam's here too. He'd never let anything bad happen."

"Your brother can't prevent earthquakes," Mr. Hamilton said seriously, "He's not magic."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Enough about the earthquakes, Pops. We have several emergency kits throughout the apartment."

"Good," Mr. Hamilton replied, "you can never be too careful."

\----------

It was the weekend. Lizzie and her mother had gone out for a mother-daughter shopping and spa day, leaving Sidney at the apartment with Liam and Mr. Hamilton.

"Since the girls are out we should do something," Mr. Hamilton proposed, "Liam what's fun to do around here?"

"Dad it's LA," Liam laughed, "it's not hard to find something to do."

  
"It depends on what you want to do, though," added Sidney, "Something touristy or something more local."

"Hmmm..." Mr. Hamilton pursed his lips, "maybe something a little more local, I'm not into all that Hollywood stuff."

  
"The pier?" Liam asked, "It's winter, so there won't be as many tourists there and it's still pretty warm out today."

"Sounds good to me," Sidney nodded, "besides you and me still have an unfinished Skeeball tournament."

Liam grinned, "You are going down, Holly."

"Bring it," countered Sidney.

Mr. Hamilton snorted in amusement.

\----------

Liam was not particularly gracious in his Skeeball victory over Sidney and the two of them were currently engaged in a poking war that would be more fitting for two nine year olds than young professional adults.

"Boys quit it," Mr. Hamilton chuckled long immune to this sort of squabble.

As they were leaving the arcade, Mr. Hamilton stopped suddenly in front of an old-school claw machine.

"Hello old friend," Mr. Hamilton grinned.

"You like these machines, Pops?" Liam asked incredulously, "They're totally rigged. Nobody ever wins."

"Oh watch and learn my son," Mr. Hamilton smiled.

"Dad," Liam rolled his eyes.

"Oh like you didn't wonder where Mr. Paws came from?" Mr. Hamilton raised his brow.

"Angie's favorite stuffed dog? Actually no," Liam laughed.

"Well, I won it in a claw machine on Coney Island," Mr. Hamilton sniffed, "I am the master of claw machines."

"Yeah right," Liam rolled his eyes.

  
Mr. Hamilton grinned and cracked his knuckles.

"Watch and learn, children."

Liam turned to Sidney and shrugged as Mr. Hamilton cracked into one of the many rolls of quarters they'd gotten for this excursion.

With a few deft movements, his tongue held between his teeth in concentration, Mr. Hamilton expertly snagged a bright green stuffed cat by one arm and deposited it in the prize drop.

"Woah," Liam whispered.

"How did you do that?" Sidney stared, equally floored.

  
"A master never reveals his secrets," said Mr. Hamilton, holding up the stuffed cat triumphantly.

"Alright," Liam nodded, "so Pops what do you plan to do with that thing now?"

"Inara is pregnant again," Mr. Hamilton said, "I'll save it for the baby."

Liam laughed and shook his head, "Alrighty then."

"Anyone else want to get funnel cake?" Sidney suggested, "I think I saw a place a little further down the pier."

"Oh man, I haven't had funnel cake since your mother was pregnant with you," Mr. Hamilton sighed, "Tell you what, I'll buy if you promise not to tell her."

"Deal," chuckled Liam.

As they walked, Sidney kept a couple steps behind the father and son as they chatted. He had some things on his mind and something he wanted to say. He was just trying to find the right moment.

As they sat down with their funnel cakes before Sidney took a bite he decided now was as good of time as any.

"So I've been meaning to bring up something important," Sidney sighed.

"This sounds serious," Mr. Hamilton commented.

"It is," Sidney admitted.

"And considering you seem to be wanting to talk to me and my dad it's about Lizzie," Liam's look turned dark.

"Yes it does, actually," said Sidney, tapping his fingers together, "I love Lizzie, I really do. It's been almost three years now and I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Are you asking my permission to propose?" Mr. Hamilton asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Well, at least not yet," Sidney explained, "I want my salon to be fully up and running first. But as soon as it's set up, I want to propose."

"Oh my god," Liam began to laugh, "that's amazing."

"I swear to god if you tell her..." Sidney glared at Liam, "because I've found a place, but still need to save up for the deposit, first and last months rent and all that."

Liam looked extremely excited, but he seemed to be working hard to hold himself together. He kept looking between his father and Sidney.

"You're a great kid, Sidney," Mr. Hamilton said, "I can tell that Lizzie loves you a lot. Of course you have my blessing."

Liam let out a high pitched noise and reached over to shake Sidney's shoulder excitedly.

"So can I make as shirts that say 'bros-in-law'?" Liam asked.

"Not till I propose," Sidney sighed.

"I'll make them and hide them in my closet," Liam decided, "Purple shirts with white lettering. Oh, wait, lavender. Definitely lavender."

\----------

November 2034

"Where are you taking me?" Lizzie asked, her eyes flicking to streets signs as they drove by.

"It's a surprise," Sidney told her, "We're almost there. I promise."

"I don't like surprises," Lizzie pouted, "can't you just tell me?"

"So impatient," Sidney laughed, "You'll like this surprise," he then murmured under his breath, almost too quietly for Lizzie to hear, "I hope you do."

Sidney eventually pulled up in front of a street where either side was filled with little shops with lights and signs proclaiming their wares. All except one. There wasn't even a logo or name on window or over the door.

"What is this place?" Lizzie asked as they climbed out of the car.

"This dear Lizzie is going to be the home of Wicked Cuts," Sidney proclaimed as he pulled out the key.

Inside, everything was already set up. There was a small reception area with a few couches and a currently empty water cooler. Further into the space there were two stations set up, each with its own sink. Some of the shelves at both stations already had some tools and bottles of product, an open drawer showed tubes of hair dye in orderly rows.

"We open next week," Sidney said, "They're coming the day after tomorrow to put our logo up on the window."

"Oh my god," Lizzie beamed, "why didn't you tell me about all of this?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," said Sidney softly, "It's taken Hannah and me almost five years to put all of this together."

"I can't believe it," Lizzie sighed, "this is just too much."

Sidney took a deep breath, "There's, ah, there's actually something else too."

"Sorry no I'm not setting up shop here," Lizzie laughed, "one I don't think your clientele would like elf ears, and two I love the studio-"

As Lizzie rambled she hadn't noticed Sidney seeming to fumble around for something.

Sidney sank down to one knee and Lizzie finally trailed off, her eyes widening.

"Um," she said, blinking.

"Elizabeth Margarita Hamilton, will you marry me?" Sidney asked looking up at her.

Lizzie couldn't help it when her mouth popped open in shock. She glanced between the earnest, beseeching look on Sidney's face and the small, velvet box he was holding open.

"Please say something Liz," Sidney let out a sigh.

Lizzie snapped back to herself, "Oh, um, god Sidney, yes," her breathe caught in her throat, "I mean, yes of course I'll marry you!"

"Oh thank god," Sidney got back up and threw his arms around Lizzie holding her tight.

A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled out of Lizzie as she squeezed him back, closing her eyes against the hot burn of happy tears pricking at the corners.

\----------

May 2035

Sidney was not really a fan of the whole last night of freedom/bachelor party concept, but this version was definitely something he could get behind. Instead of splitting up between men and women--which would have been ridiculous anyway because Liam was Lizzie's maid/man of honor anyway--Lizzie and her siblings had gone to a restaurant on one side of LA while Sidney and all the spouses went to a restaurant on the other side of the city. The various children were split between the two groups. Meanwhile, Sidney's parents and Lizzie's parents were having their own evening out somewhere else entirely.

Liam had made sure that before leaving that night the two of them were both sporting their "Bros-In-Law" shirts with the explicit directions not to remove it after he left.

Sending Lizzie a beseeching look hadn't done anything to help him, so Sidney was stuck. Not that he disliked the shirt, but it didn't really make as much sense alone as it would with two together. He didn't dare take it off, though. Even if the adults were able to keep it secret, Sidney doubted that the kids could.

Especially Lexi...

"I like your shirt Uncle Sid," the fourteen year old grinned, "lavender is a nice color."

"Thanks," Sidney sighed.

Lexi had insisted on sitting next to them at the hibachi restaurant. Out of all the kids, she was the one who had attached herself to him the most from the moment they'd met. Sidney didn't mind, really, he liked kids.

"Could you dye my hair that color?" Lexi asked excitedly.

"If you parents say it's okay," Sidney told her.

Lexi turned to her father, who was sitting on her other side. Without taking his eyes off of the chef, who was cooking their rice at the moment, Richie scoffed.

"Not a chance," he said, "You're hair is dark so you'd have to bleach it first. That's not good for your hair."

"Uncle Liam does it all the time," Lexi pouted.

"And when you're Liam's age, so can you."

"Dad..." Lexi whined.

"And don't even think about trying to go behind my back and asking your mom," Richie added sternly, "I have it on good authority that she'll also say no."

Lexi mumbled something about the bathroom and stomped off.

"Teenagers," Richie snorted, "She doesn't usually do the stereotypical teenage girl huff, but when she does it doesn't last very long. She'll be chirpy again by the time she gets back."

Sidney couldn't help but chuckle a little at that.

"Just like Angie," Theo laughed sipping her sake.

"True," agreed Richie, "Although as far as we know, for Lexi it's just being a teenager and not anything else."

Sidney nodded in understanding although their conversation was halted for a moment by one of the chef's knife tricks.

"Abba can you do that?" Maddie asked Eli.

Eli laughed, "Sure, if you want Dad to banish me to Siberia. Plus, that's not really my area."

"You're no fun," Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Boo hoo, your life is so hard," Eli teased, kissing his daughter on the forehead.

"Alright well before it gets too late I think there is something we need to discuss," Marisol leaned forward as Lexi returned from the bathroom, "involving our groom-to-be."

"Ah yes, the induction," Richie said, rubbing his hands together.

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Sidney commented.

"It's not as bad as all that," Marisol said, "We all went through it."

"Mine was during the wedding reception," added Inara happily.

"Okay," Sidney raised his brow, "induction into what?"

"Many moons ago, Theo and I had an idea," Eli said, "an idea for a little club made up of those of us who are married to, or in long term relationship with," he added, nodding to Richie, "a Hamilton."

"Ummm okay?" Sidney leaned back.

Theo poured Sidney some sake passing the cup towards him, "Welcome to the Hamilton Spouse Club."

"If ever you need to talk about, well, anything," Marisol said, "then we're here to listen."

"Anything," Richie emphasized. He didn't say any specifics because of the kids around, but Sidney understood his meaning.

"To the Hamilton Spouse Club," Sidney chuckled, lifting his glass.

**Author's Note:**

> You can watch a trailer for this particular fic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jsXnyiCne8 and get to know our wonderful FC's we have picked out for everyone.


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